After the shadow dragon's death the battle went on into the night, as
her minions were hunted down without mercy and the area around
Derelion was cleared. But finally things began to calm down and
those involved began to take measure on what sacrifices were made to
reach this points. You could see in the eyes of almost everyone
present that they had seen familiar faces among the fades they had
destroyed. The killing of family or friend, even if it was a viewed
as a mercy killing, will forever leave a scar upon their soul.

The look upon his cousin's face had been much different. Skylyone
Oakflame, one of Cabal of Sages looked upon the place where
Hasforenses had died with grim satisfaction. His father had
disappeared all those years ago when the dragon first appeared. The
reports said that Phalyone Oakflame had broke his staff of power
against the dragon and afterwards they both disappeared. In fact the
dragon's attacks had ceased for a period of time, leaving many to
wonder what exactly did happen to her that night. Since the moment
he had heard of his fathers fate and the return of the dragon to the
Dim all Skylyone had talked about was gaining enough power to face
and kill Hasforenses. Now with it dead hopefully he will be able to
heal and live a long and happy life, or a deep decent into bitterness
that he wasn't there in final assault. His duties in Cabal had kept
him from joining a wolfpack like he had in his adventuring days just
a scant few years earlier.

Skylyone turns away, "There will be plenty of time to study, later."
He begins to look around at the remains of the Derelion. Since this
was the place his father failed to defend he has asked the Cabal of
Sages to allow him to stay here and aid in the reconstruction. His
hopes are that coming to the aid of his brethren not as an overseer,
but as a fellow elf may help bridge some of the old divides and make
sure that something like this will never again happen the land called
Geoff. His years in the war and especially as a member of wolfpacks
have taught him one key thing. The giants were able to overrun Geoff
because they were united under one idea and Geoff fell because it was
divided. The land was retaken only because many races united under
one common cause.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
----

It is now the morning after the battle for the Dim and Delian
Blackarrow, the Bountiful Shepard of the illuserns and High Priest of
Ehlonna, looks around at the devastation. Thick smoke from the
scorched earth policy used to help clear the forest is still
lingering and chokes out the light of the morning sun. So much of
this forest was devastated so that the army could break through to
Derelion and kill Hasforenses. It will take multiple human and maybe
even more than one elven life span for the forest to truly recover
from what had to be done. How could he in his short human lifetime
ever hope to heal this forest of all the damage that has been done?
One seed at a time is what his old teacher used to say.

Now as the suns rays pierce the thick smoke and dot the barren grey
land, Delian stands in what once was a grove dedicated to the worship
of Ehlenestra, the elven aspect of his deity Ehlonna. Even those
mighty trees were destroyed in the inferno, since the dragon and her
minions long ago desecrated their protective magic, and now all that
remains is the circle of chard stumps. He pulls out a seed from
underneath his armor and stares at it familiar surface. This seed
was his fathers and for many years Delian wondered what significance
it held. It wasn't until he had asked the arch-druid about the seed
that he learned about the legacy his father had left him. This is
the seed to one of the magnificent trees found only in druid groves.

He knows what must be done and that knowledge does not bother him in
the least, but he would have liked to have seen his daughter one last
time. The scales of his green dragonhide armor creeks as his he
takes the seed from around his neck and sits in the center of the old
grove. He looks up into the sky, "My lady, I have served you as well
as this mortal body could and now I sit here humbly asking that you
grant me your favor one last time. Let me heal this grove. Let me
grant life to this seed I hold so that this sacred place can once
again be whole." He takes out a long ceremonial silver dagger that
has been crafted to look like the horn of a unicorn, and with two
quick slashes each hand laid open. The seed, now held in his bloody
grasp, is pushed into the ashen earth as words of power slowly pass
Delian's lips. He can feel his life's energy drain away with the
divine power he is channeling into the seed and it begins to sprout
and grow. Before long a mighty 30-foot oak tree stands in the center
of a newly formed grove. At its base is the unmoving form of Delian
Blackarrow.

"Delian open your eyes!" commands a voice. Weakly he obeys and
before him stands a unicorn bathed in shimmering light. "You have
done well and know that I am pleased, but for you the journey has not
ended. I now task you with your final duty. Protect this newly
reformed grove that you so lovingly sacrificed your life to regrow."
With that the unicorn tosses its mane and gallops out of the grove.

Delian tries to reach out and say his thanks, but his limbs are heavy
and cumbersome, his voice dry and raspy. At first he thinks that he
is still too weak from the spell he just cast, but as he begins to
look around the new grove he sees his own body lying at the foot of a
large tree. He reaches down to touch his body, but the limb of a
tree instead picks up his body. After a moment the truth dawns to
him that the limb is his own. Ehlonna granted him his greatest
desire, to be one with the forest. He can now go on protecting this
land far longer than he ever hoped that was possible. He looks down
and sees that the symbol of Ehlonna can be seen in the folds of his
bark. He reaches out and is rewarded with the successful casting of
a consecrate spell. Delian, the treant, reaches up towards the sky
thanking Ehlonna for her gift.

Later that day he received his first visitors in the form of his old
cohort, Fiallen Mapleleaf, now a full fledge druid and his daughter,
Luciola, who he hasn't seen in almost four years. "She now looks so
much like her dryad mother," he thinks to himself. "Daddy!" cries
out the child, but instead of running to his human husk she dashes up
to him and looks directly into his wooden eyes with eyes for too
sharp for a five year old human. "Pick me up daddy!" It's an order
that he happily complies with.

"So I see that you have gotten yourself a new assignment." Fiallen
puts her hands upon her hips and stares up at her former mentor and
friend. "Well, it just so happens that I've been given a new
assignment as well. It seems as though one of the old druid groves
in the Dim has been reclaimed and is in need of a new druid
caretaker. So, what do you say, do I get the job?" Luciola looks
down for her perch and asks, "Do you mean we get to stay with daddy?"

"WOOF!" comes a loud bark. A very old riding dog walks slowly into
grove. Fiallen, turns and says, "I had almost forgotten. We brought
Fang with us." She gives the dog a loving pat as he walks past her
and towards its master's body. "He has faithfully kept your order
and protected Luciola."

Delian looks down at the faithful hound and remembers the day he
found him on his first mission in Geoff. The dog had been with him
through so many adventures and both of them had nearly died on many
of them, but here they are now. "Fang, good boy!" The dog lays down
besides its master's old human body, lets out a long deep sigh and
takes his final rest.

As the sun finally sets, the last surviving illuserns began dancing
around what will be called for generations to come the "The
Illuminated Grove of the Great Dim Forest."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Farewell to all of you. I have got to know many people over the past
8+ years and from now on when I look at any D&D supplement that is
about Greyhawk I will think fondly about the people I got to know.

Farewell,
Bill Altizer
aka Delian Blackarrow, High Priest of Ehloonna, Guardian of the
Illuminated Grove
aka Dreagan "Mudbutt" Silverblood, Archmage of the Stonereaver Clan
aka Darrian Blackarrow, Master Thrower
aka Kai ap Mardoc, Drunken Master of the admantine tankards